Cirque du Soleil returning to Albany in October

Cirque du Soleil will bring a show to the Times Union Center in Albany for its fourth visit in five years when “Dralion” is performed six times from Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 2 to 5, arena officials announced Monday.

Tickets — priced at $35 to $125 — go on sale Friday, July 18, online or by calling 800-745-3000.

“Dralion” (pronounced “Dra-lee-on”), which will be retired in January after 15 years of touring the world, is described as a fusion of Cirque du Soleil’s contemporary circus arts with 3,000-year-old traditions of Chinese acrobatics, right. From promotional material:

(The show) draws its inspiration from Eastern philosophy and its never-ending quest for harmony between humans and nature. The show’s name is derived from its two emblematic creatures: the dragon, symbolizing the East, and the lion, symbolizing the West.

In Dralion, the four elements that govern the natural order take on a human form. Thus embodied, each element is represented by its own evocative colour: air is blue; water is green; fire is red; earth is ochre. In the world of Dralion, cultures blend, Man and Nature are one, and balance is achieved.

Cirque du Soleil previously brought tours of different shows to the Times Union Center in 2009, 2011 and 2012.